Payment system and method, server apparatus, payment processing method, and computer program product

ABSTRACT

A payment system having a server apparatus ( 50 ) capable of transmitting and receiving information via a communication network ( 1 ), a first terminal apparatus ( 10 ) for a purchase application, a second terminal apparatus ( 20 ) for an installment payment organization and a third terminal apparatus ( 30 ) for a settlement service organization. The first terminal apparatus includes an inputting device ( 104 ) for prompting to input desirable one of a plurality of payment plan informations each indicating a combination of (i) a part of an installment payment for a purchase price of a product, and (ii) a part of a settlement service for a price of a service, as well as for prompting to input personal information and the credit card number. The server apparatus includes a processing device ( 502 ) for extracting (i) information relating to items for an installment payment application and (ii) information relating to items for a settlement service application, separately from among the information inputted via the inputting device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No.10/612,408 filed Jul. 3, 2003, which claims benefit of Japanese PatentApplication No. 2002-196068, filed Jul. 4, 2002 in the Japanese PropertyOffice, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a payment system and method using aserver apparatus and a communication network, as for various products ormerchandises and their associated various services involving both (i) apurchase price or bill for the product such as a communication apparatusand (ii) a service fee for the associated service continually providedthrough the product such as a communication service. The presentinvention also relates to the server apparatus and a payment processingmethod therewith, as well as a computer program product to provide thepayment system and/or the server apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

There has been provided a payment system constructed in such a mannerthat a purchaser in his/her house and other situation, or a serviceclerk at the store, can submit a purchase application via acommunication network with a computer apparatus disposed at the store orthe house or with a portable computer, when the purchaser buys a productor merchandise in installments (i.e., on a loan). More concretely, apurchase application form is electronically completed by inputting orentering the data such as name, address, age, settlement account,product name, product reference number, via a keyboard and the like tofill entries in the purchase application form displayed, for example, ona screen of the computer apparatus, and the data therein is transmittedvia the communication network. In response to this, an installmentpayment organization such as a loan company may examine about theallowability of the installment payment (e.g. credit checks, financialstatus checks, annual income checks) and inform the result via mail ore-mail.

On the other hand, there has been provided a payment system constructedin such a manner that simultaneously otherwise before or afterpurchasing the product, the purchaser or others can submit a servicecontract application via the communication network for a serviceinvolved or associated within the product, such as an informationservice or a network connection service supplied through mobile phones,computer apparatuses accessible via a network, or on-vehiclecommunication navigation apparatuses, as the product. More concretely,the service contract application form is electronically completed byinputting or entering the data such as name, address, age, credit cardnumber, the kind of service, via a keyboard and the like to fill entriesin the service contract application form displayed, for example, on ascreen of the computer apparatus and the data therein is transmitted viathe communication network. In response to this, a settlement serviceorganization such as a credit company may examine about the allowabilityof the settlement service (e.g. credit card identifications, balancechecks, payment performance record checks) and inform the result viamail or e-mail.

With regard to techniques to perform such an installment payment on thecommunication network, for example, the Japanese Patent Application LaidOpen No. 2002-117289 discloses a technique to propose an exemplaryinstallment sale in a Net business. The Japanese Patent Application LaidOpen No. 2002-056292 discloses a technique to secure the credibility ofthe information about the purchaser for a mobile phone company throughthe leasing or the installment sale of the mobile phone. Each of theJapanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-256408 and the JapanesePatent Application Laid Open No. Hei 11-296580 discloses a technique tocontrol the transaction between a server of a seller and a server of acredit company in a Net business.

According to the payment system set forth above, however, the data forthe installment payment application to the installment paymentorganization must be entered via the keyboard of the personal computer,for example, disposed at the store or the house, while the data for thesettlement service application to the settlement service organizationmust be entered independently of the data entry for the installmentpayment application. Particularly, the common data between both twokinds of data entry, such as name, age, address, and telephone numbermust be entered on each application form. Therefore, through a wholetransaction, the workload for the data entry is increased or theoperation for the data entry is complicated, simultaneously the amountof the data input or the amount of the data to be processed becomesrelatively large, causing such a technical problem that the lengthy andinefficient data processing or data management are inevitable to beperformed in the computer apparatus. Further, since the prices or feesfor the product and the service are independent of each other, it isdifficult to recognize promptly the total running cost, if the serviceis provided through the settlement service after the purchase of theproduct in installments. Therefore, it is not easy for the purchaser todecide the purchase of the product and the associated service, causinganother problem, i.e. the discouragement to purchasing it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has accomplished in view of these problems forexample. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apayment system and method, which can perform a data process of payingand/or collecting the debt through a server apparatus and acommunication network as for a product and a service involving both apurchase price of the product such as a communication apparatus and aservice fee of the associated service, such as a communication servicecontinually supplied through the product after the purchase thereof, andto provide the server apparatus and the payment processing systemtherewith, as well as a computer program product to realize the paymentsystem and/or the server apparatus.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a paymentsystem having a server apparatus capable of transmitting and receivinginformation via a communication network, a first terminal apparatus fora purchase application, a second terminal apparatus for an installmentpayment organization, and a third terminal apparatus for a settlementservice organization. The first terminal apparatus is provided with aninputting device for prompting to input desirable one of a plurality ofpayment plan informations each indicating a combination of (i) a paymentplan portion according to which the purchaser pays a price of a product,which the purchaser is to buy, in installments through the installmentpayment organization, and (ii) a payment plan portion according to whichthe purchaser settles a price of a service continually provided to thepurchaser through the product by means of a credit card issued by thesettlement service organization and owned by the purchaser, as well asfor prompting to input a certain kind of personal information about thepurchaser and a credit card information indicating at least a cardnumber of the credit card. At least one of the server apparatus and thefirst terminal apparatus is provided with: a processing device forextracting (i) information relating to an item or items predeterminedfor an installment payment application including at least a part of thepersonal information and the payment plan information and (ii)information relating to an item or items predetermined for a settlementservice application including at least a part of the personalinformation, the payment plan information and the credit cardinformation, separately from among the information inputted via theinputting device; a communication device for transmitting theinformation relating to the item or items for the installment paymentapplication extracted by the processing device to the second terminalapparatus via the communication network, transmitting the informationrelating to the item or items predetermined for the settlement serviceapplication extracted by the processing device to the third terminalapparatus via the communication network, receiving installment paymentexamination result information indicating an acceptance or refusal of aninstallment payment transmitted via the communication network from thesecond terminal apparatus in response to the transmitted informationrelating to the item or items for the installment payment application,and receiving settlement service examination result informationindicating an acceptance or refusal of a settlement service transmittedvia the communication network from the third terminal apparatus inresponse to the transmitted information relating to the item or itemsfor the settlement service application; and a confirming device forconfirming a payment plan indicated by the payment plan informationinputted via the inputting device, on the basis of the installmentpayment examination result information and the settlement serviceexamination result information received by the communication device.

The above object of the present invention can be also achieved by apayment method performed in a payment system having a server apparatus'capable of transmitting and receiving information via a communicationnetwork, a first terminal apparatus for a purchase application, a secondterminal apparatus for an installment payment organization, and a thirdterminal apparatus for a settlement service organization. The method isprovided with, in the first terminal apparatus, an inputting process ofprompting to input desirable one of a plurality of payment planinformations each indicating a combination of (i) a payment plan portionaccording to which—the purchaser pays a price of a product, which thepurchaser is to buy, in installments through the installment paymentorganization, and (ii) a payment plan portion according to which thepurchaser settles a price of a service continually provided to thepurchaser through the product by means of a credit card issued by thesettlement service organization and owned by the purchaser, as well asof prompting to input a certain kind of personal information about thepurchaser and a credit card information indicating at least a cardnumber of the credit card. The method is further provided, in at leastone of the server apparatus and the first terminal apparatus, with: anextracting process of extracting (i) information relating to an item oritems X20 predetermined for an installment payment application includingat least a part of the personal information and the payment planinformation and (ii) information relating to an item or itemspredetermined for a settlement service application including at least apart of the personal information, the payment plan information and thecredit card information, separately from among the information inputtedby the inputting process; a communication process of transmitting theinformation relating to the item or items for the installment paymentapplication extracted by the extracting process to the second terminalapparatus via the communication network, transmitting the informationrelating to the item or items for the settlement service applicationextracted by the extracting process to the third terminal apparatus viathe communication network, receiving installment payment examinationresult information indicating an acceptance or refusal of an installmentpayment transmitted via the communication network from the secondterminal apparatus in response to the transmitted information relatingto the item or items for the installment payment application, andreceiving settlement service examination result information indicatingan acceptance or refusal of a settlement service transmitted via thecommunication network from the third terminal apparatus in response tothe transmitted information relating to the item or items for thesettlement service application; and a confirming process of confirming apayment plan indicated by the payment plan information inputted by theinputting process, on the basis of the installment payment examinationresult information and the settlement service examination resultinformation received by the communication process are performed.

The above object of the present invention can be also achieved by theabove described server apparatus of the present invention, which iscapable of transmitting and receiving information via a communicationnetwork among the above described first terminal apparatus, the abovedescribed second terminal apparatus and the above described thirdterminal apparatus of the present invention.

The above object of the present invention can be also achieved by apayment processing method in the above described server apparatus of thepresent invention, which is capable of transmitting and receivinginformation via a communication network among the above described firstterminal apparatus, the above described second terminal apparatus andthe above described third terminal apparatus of the present invention.The payment processing method is provided with: an extracting process ofextracting (i) information relating to an item or items predeterminedfor an installment payment application including at least a part of thepersonal information and the payment plan information and (ii)information relating to an item or items predetermined for a settlementservice application including at least a part of the personalinformation, the payment plan information and the credit cardinformation separately from among the information inputted by theinputting process; a communication process of transmitting the extractedinformation relating to the item or items for the installment paymentapplication to the second terminal apparatus via the communicationnetwork, transmitting the extracted information relating to the item oritems for the settlement service application device to the thirdterminal apparatus via the communication network, receiving installmentpayment examination result information indicating an acceptance orrefusal of an installment payment transmitted via the communicationnetwork from the second terminal apparatus in response to thetransmitted information relating to the item or items for theinstallment payment application, and receiving settlement serviceexamination result information indicating an acceptance or refusal of asettlement service transmitted via the communication network from thethird terminal apparatus in response to the transmitted informationrelating to the item or items for the settlement service application;and a confirming process of confirming a payment plan indicated by thepayment plan information inputted via the inputting device, on the basisof the installment payment examination result information and thesettlement service examination result information received by thecommunication device.

The above object of the present invention can be also achieved by acomputer program product in a computer-readable medium for tangiblyembodying a program of instructions executable by a computer to make thecomputer function as at least one of the above described serverapparatus, the above described first terminal apparatus, the abovedescribed second terminal apparatus, and the above described thirdterminal apparatus of the present invention.

According to the computer program product of the present invention, atleast one of the server apparatus, the first terminal apparatus, thesecond terminal apparatus and the third terminal apparatus of thepresent invention set forth above can be embodied relatively readily, byloading the computer program product from the recording medium forstoring the computer program product, such as a ROM, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM,hard disk or the like, into the computer, or downloading the computerprogram product, which may be a carrier wave, into the computer via acommunication device. More concretely, the computer program product maycomprise computer readable codes to cause the computer (or may comprisecomputer readable instructions for causing the computer) to function asrespective one of the inputting device, the payment plan candidatesoutputting device, the confirmed plan outputting device, the processingdevice, the communication device, the confirming device and so on, inthe server apparatus, the first terminal apparatus, the second terminalapparatus and/or the third terminal apparatus.

The above object of the present invention can be also achieved byanother computer program product in a computer-readable medium fortangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a computer tomake the computer function as the above described server apparatus ofthe present invention.

According to this another computer program product, the server apparatuscan be embodied relatively readily, by loading or downloading thecomputer program product. The computer program product may comprisecomputer readable codes to cause the computer (or may comprise computerreadable instructions for causing the computer) to function asrespective one of the processing device, the communication device, theconfirming device, the payment plan information supplying device and soon, in the server apparatus.

The nature, utility, and further features of this invention will be moreclearly apparent from the following detailed description with referenceto preferred embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings briefly described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a payment system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a route of theproduct 20 etc., and a fee or charge collection route in the paymentsystem according to the Example.

FIG. 3 is a sequence chart illustrating the data transaction among thepurchaser, the seller, the loan company and the credit company accordingto the Example.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing one example of payment plan informationincluding a plurality of payment plans, which is displayed on a displaydevice as a device for outputting payment plan candidates according tothe Example.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating one example of a purchase applicationform, which is displayed on the display device according to the Example.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view illustrating the data flow entered throughthe purchase application form and the change in the data structureaccording to the Example.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing one example of a confirmed plan display,which is displayed on the display device as a confirmed plan outputtingdevice according to the Example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present invention will now be discussed,referring to drawings.

The construction of an embodiment of the present invention will now bediscussed, referring to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating apayment system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the payment system according to the presentembodiment is provided with a server apparatus 50, a plurality of firstterminal apparatuses 10, a second terminal apparatus 20 and a thirdterminal apparatus 30, each of which is for transferring contentsinformation bidirectionaly via a communication network 1.

With regard to the first terminal apparatus 10 in the embodiment, asdiscussed below, an “inputting device” according to the presentinvention is exemplified in an inputting device 104, and a “confirmedplan outputting device” and a “payment plan candidates outputtingdevice” according to the present invention are exemplified in anoutputting device 103. With regard to the server apparatus 50, a“communication device” according to the present invention is exemplifiedin a communication device 501, a “processing device” according to thepresent invention is exemplified in a processing device 502, a“confirming device” according to the present invention is exemplified ina confirming device 507, and a “payment plan information supplyingdevice” according to the present invention is exemplified in a paymentplan information supplying device 506. With regard to the secondterminal apparatus 20, an “installment examining device” according tothe present invention is exemplified in an installment examining device506. With regard to the third terminal apparatus 30, a “settlementexamining device” according to the present invention is exemplified in asettlement examining device 308.

The communication network 1 may be a network including variouscommunication lines such as private lines, public lines, telephone linesor the like regardless of wired or wireless.

The first terminal apparatus 10 is for the purchase application, and maybe embodied in a personal computer, a mobile computer, a terminalapparatus and a cellular phone (mobile phone) capable of personalcomputer communication. The terminal apparatus 10 may be disposed at acar shop or other stores where the purchaser or a salesperson places anorder, otherwise at the house of the purchaser. Alternatively, thepurchaser may possess the terminal apparatus 10.

The terminal apparatus 10 includes: a communication device 101 such as amodem; an outputting device 103 such as a display device; a printerdevice or an audio outputting device; an inputting device 104 such as akeyboard, a mouse, a touch panel or an audio inputting device; and astorage device 108 such as an optical disk device, a semiconductormemory or a hard disk device. In addition to those devices, the terminalapparatus 10 further includes a control device 102, for example having aCPU or the like, to control those devices. The control device 102 isoperative to control the operation of the first terminal apparatus 10with a computer program, which may be pre-loaded into the storage device108 otherwise may be loaded from a recording medium in the storagedevice 108 or may be downloaded via the communication device 101, asdiscussed later.

The second terminal apparatus 20 is for an installment paymentapplication, and may be embodied in a large or medium sized computer, awork station, a personal computer or the like. The second terminalapparatus 20 may be disposed at an installment payment organization suchas a loan company. The second terminal apparatus 20 includes: acommunication device 201 such as a modem; and an installment paymentexamining device 208 having a CPU, a memory and the like.

The third terminal apparatus 30 is for a settlement service application,and may be embodied in a large or medium sized computer, a work station,a personal computer or the like. The third terminal apparatus 30 may bedisposed at a settlement service organization such as a credit company.The navigation apparatuses, cellular phones, mobile communicationapparatuses, AV (Audio-Visual) apparatuses or personal computers, and(ii) their associated services continually provided through theproducts, such as software provisions to provide the information,computer programs and so on. That is, the merchandise according to thepresent embodiment does not fully function by itself but fully functionsas various services are supplied thereto by the telecom suppliers, theinformation suppliers, the contents or software vendors, or theproviders. The “service continually supplied” according to the presentinvention means a service supplied for a certain period of time, such asfor many weeks, for many months or for many years, regardless ofcontinuously,’ periodically, intermittently regularly or irregularly.

The server apparatus 50 includes: a communication device 501 such as amodem; a processing device 502 having a CPU, a memory or the like; adatabase such as a hard disk; a payment plan information supplyingdevice 506 having a CPU, a memory or the like; a confirming device 507having a CPU, a memory or the like; and a storage device 508 such as aRAM or ROM. The processing device 502, the payment plan informationsupplying device 506 and the confirming device 507 may be logicallyconstructed in a single CPU or controller, or may be separatelyconstructed in different CPUs or controllers.

Particularly in this embodiment, with regard to the first terminalapparatus 10, the outputting device 103 is operative to output visually,on a display screen and under control of the control device 102, paymentplan information indicating a plurality of combinations of (i) a paymentplan portion in installments through the installment paymentorganization for the price of the product to be purchased by thepurchaser and (ii) a payment plan portion with a settlement service,through a credit card issued from the settlement service organization tothe purchaser, for the service charge of the service continuallysupplied to the purchaser through the product. Additionally oralternatively, the outputting device 103 may be operative to outputpayment informations including a plurality of payment plans on a paper,or in a sound wave. The inputting device 104 is operative to prompt thepurchaser to input or select the preferable payment plan among theplurality of payment plans, which are included in the payment planinformation proposed and outputted from the outputting device 103 as thecandidates, and prompt the purchaser to input the certain kind ofpersonal information and the credit card number.

Preferably in this embodiment, the outputting device 103 is operative as“a payment plan outputting device” to output, in a certain format, thepayment plan information supplied via the communication network 1 fromthe payment plan information supplying device 506 disposed in the serverapparatus 50. This payment plan information may be updated according tothe management strategy or marketing strategy of the seller possessingthe server apparatus 50 and may be supplied from the payment planinformation supplying device 506 to a plurality of first communicationterminal apparatus 10 disposed, for example, over the whole country orthe world. In this way, the purchaser can view and recognize the paymentplan information including multiple payment plans very simply throughthe screen or the like, owing to the display of the selectable multiplepayment plans by the outputting device 103 in a certain format, such asa list or table. More preferably, the outputting device 103 foroutputting visually the payment plan information includes a displaydevice, on the screen of which the preferable payment plan among theproposed payment plans included in the payment plan information can beselected. Thereby, the operation is further simplified.

Nevertheless, the outputting device 103 acting as the payment planoutputting device may include a printer device in addition to or insteadof the display device. In this case, the purchaser and others can selector input the preferable payment plan, by viewing the payment planinformation printed in a list or table on a paper. Moreover, this,outputting device 103 may include an audio outputting device in additionto or instead of the display device and the printer device. In thiscase, the purchaser and others can select the preferable payment plan,by listening to the payment plan information outputted audibly in thesynthesized or recorded voice.

In any case, constructing the inputting device 104 to prompt thepurchaser or others to select either one of the proposed payment plansincluded in the information outputted by the outputting device 103facilitates the input operation for the preferable payment plan.

The inputting device 104 is also operative to prompt the purchaser orothers (in this stage, a purchaser-to-be or an applicant, otherwise aservice clerk) to input the personal information. For example, a formincluding (i) a personal section for the name, age, address, postalcode, telephone number, email address, place of work, occupation andannual income of the purchaser, (ii) a credit card section for thecredit card number, and (iii) a product section for the reference numberor the name of the preferable product to be purchased may be displayedon the screen of the display device as one component of the outputtingdevice 103 to prompt the purchaser or the service clerk to enter orinput the data according to the form via the inputting device 104 suchas a keyboard or the like.

On the other hand, with regard to the server apparatus 50, thecommunication device 501 is operative to receive the informationincluding the payment plan information, the personal information and thecredit card information, which were inputted via the inputting device104 and transmitted from the communication device 101 via thecommunication network 1. The processing device 502 is operative toextract separately from each other (i) the information relating toentries predetermined for an installment payment application includingat least a part of the personal information and the payment planinformation, and (ii) the information relating to entries predeterminedfor a settlement service application including at least a part of thepersonal information, the payment plan information and the credit cardinformation, from among the information received at the communicationdevice 501.

In this embodiment, the server apparatus 50 is operative to register theinformation including the personal information, the payment planinformation and the credit card information received at thecommunication device 501, into the database 505. Thus, the processingdevice 502 is operative to extract (i) the information relating toentries for the installment payment application and (ii) the informationrelating to entries for the settlement service application, separatelyfrom each other, from among the information registered or to beregistered into the database 505.

The processing device 502 may be arranged to process the informationrelating to entries for the installment payment application into aformat adapted for the second terminal apparatus 20 and the informationrelating to entries for the settlement service application into a formatadapted for the third terminal apparatus 30, in addition to theextraction of the information registered or to be registered into thedatabase 505. Into the database 505, the information may be registeredbefore or after the above-mentioned processing. In any case, it isconvenient that using data in a different kind of format among thefirst, second and third terminal apparatus 10, 20 and 30 respectivelyfacilitates the use of different kind of OS (Operating System) orapplication program among them. On the other hand, using data in acommon format or standard among these terminal apparatuses is alsopossible, avoiding the processing of the data entered at the firstterminal apparatus 10 to adapt for the second or third terminalapparatus 20 or 30.

The communication device 501 in the server apparatus 50 is operative totransmit the information relating to entries for the installment paymentapplication extracted or reformed in the processing device 502 to thesecond apparatus 20 via the communication network 1, under control ofthe processing device 502. Before or after this, otherwisesimultaneously, the communication device 501 is also operative totransmit the information relating to entries for the settlement serviceapplication extracted or reformed in the processing device 502 to thethird apparatus 30 via the communication network 1, under control of theprocessing device 502.

Particularly in this embodiment, the installment payment examiningdevice 208 in the second terminal apparatus 20 is operative to examinethe purchaser for the acceptance or refusal of the installment payment,based on the information relating to entries for the installment paymentapplication received at the communication device 201 via thecommunication network 1. This examination may be made automatically froma certain entries (e.g. the annual income, the loan balance etc.) of thepersonal information included in the received information, inassociation with, the payment plan (e.g., the monthly installment)selected by the purchaser or other person. Alternatively, thisexamination is made automatically or semi-automatically otherwise withhuman decision, referring to other personal information about thepurchaser or the credit inquiry information belonged to the installmentpayment organization such as a loan company where the second terminalapparatus 20 is disposed. The second terminal apparatus 20 is thenoperative to transmit the examination result outputted by, theinstallment payment examining device 208 to the server apparatus 50 viathe communication network 1. Thus, according to the payment system ofthis. embodiment, the total examination for the installment payment canbe made quickly on the communication network 1.

Particularly in this embodiment, with regard to the third terminalapparatus 30, the settlement service examining device 308 is operativeto examine the purchaser for the acceptance or refusal of the settlementservice, based on the information relating to entries for the settlementservice application received at the communication device 301 via thecommunication network 1. This examination may be made automatically froma certain entries (e.g. the annual income, the credit balance etc.) ofthe personal information included in the received information, inassociation with a payment plan (e.g., the monthly payment) selected bythe purchaser or other person. Alternatively, this examination is madeautomatically or semi automatically otherwise with human decision,referring to other personal information about the purchaser,particularly past payment or nonpayment record or the credit inquiryinformation belonged to the settlement service organization such as acredit company where the third terminal apparatus 30 is disposed. Atthis time, the identification check may be also made, which is typicallymade when the credit card is used. The third terminal apparatus 30 isthen operative to transmit the examination result outputted by thesettlement service examining device 308 to the server apparatus 50 viathe communication network 1. Thus, according to the payment system ofthis embodiment, the total examination for the settlement service can bemade quickly in the communication network 1.

With regard to the server apparatus 50, under control of the processingdevice 502, the communication device 501 is operative to receive theresult information indicating the acceptance or refusal of theinstallment payment transmitted from the second terminal apparatus 20via the communication network 1 in response to the information relatingto entries for the installment payment application. The communicationdevice 501 is also operative to receive the result informationindicating the acceptance or refusal of the settlement servicetransmitted from the third terminal apparatus 30 via the communicationnetwork 1 in response to the information relating to entries for thesettlement service application.

Moreover, the confirming device 507 in the server apparatus 50 isoperative to confirm or firm up the payment plan indicated by thepayment plan information, which has been already inputted by thepurchaser or the service clerk, as the plan to be actually carried out,on the basis of the result information of the installment paymentexamination and the settlement payment examination, if the result ispositive. Then, the confirming device 507 is operative to inform thefact that the plan is firmed up, to the first terminal apparatus 1 viathe communication network 1. Before or after, otherwise simultaneously,the confirming device 507 is operative to place the shipping order (seean arrow in FIG. 1).

In this arrangement, as the confirming device 507 firms up the paymentplan, the fact that the selected payment plan is accepted is quicklyinformed to the purchaser or the service clerk manipulating the firstterminal apparatus at the home or the store. The secure and quick orderof the merchandise can be carried out online or offline.

Nevertheless, after firming up the payment plan, the confirming device507 may output visually or print out the fact of firming up in a certainformat at the side of the server apparatus 50. Then, for example, theseller or the employee who checked the output may inform to thepurchaser, who is in the house or the service clerk at the store, theexamination result by phone or mail. With regard to the shipping order,it may be made by the seller or the employee who checked such an output,or who checked a voucher newly printed out for indicating the shippingorder.

On the other hand, if the confirming device 507 fails to firm up thepayment plan, on the basis of the installment payment examination resultinformation and the settlement service examination result information,both or either of which is negative, the payment plan informationsupplying device 506 may propose one or more payment plans applicable tothe purchaser, on the basis of the personal information of thepurchaser. Alternatively, the payment plan information supplying device506 may inform the first terminal apparatus 10 the fact that there is nopayment plan applicable to the purchaser. As a result, the payment planinformation supplying device 506 may transmit to the first terminalapparatus 10 the information for prohibiting the sale.

Thus, the payment plan information confirmed by the confirming device507 or the fact of confirmation may be transmitted from thecommunication device 501 in the server apparatus 50 to the communicationdevice 101 in the first terminal apparatus 10 via the communicationnetwork 1. With regard to the first terminal apparatus 10, theoutputting device 103 is operative also as a confirmed plan outputtingdevice arranged to output the payment plan information, which has beenfirmed up in the confirming device 507 and transmitted from thecommunication device 501, in a certain format. In this arrangement, theconfirmed payment plan information can be viewed very easily andsecurely on the screen or the like of the outputting device 103 such asa display device or a printer device.

The payment method performed in the payment system constructed asmentioned above will now be discussed, referring to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, in the terminal apparatus 10, an inputting process ofprompting to input the preferable payment plan among a plurality ofpayment plans included in the payment plan information and prompting toinput the personal information as well as the credit card informationincluding the card number is executed through the inputting device 104.On the other hand, in the server apparatus 50, an extracting process ofseparately extracting the information relating to entries for theinstallment payment application and the information relating to entriesfor the settlement service application from among the informationinputted via the inputting device 104 is executed through the processingdevice 502. Moreover, in the server apparatus 50, a communicationprocess of transmitting the extracted information relating to though theconfirming device 507, on the basis of the received installment paymentexamination result information and the settlement service examinationresult information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the preferablepayment plan can be inputted, for example, by selecting the preferableone through the inputting device 104 among the plurality of paymentplans included in the payment plan information outputted through theoutputting device 103 in the first terminal apparatus 10 disposed at thestore or house. From the standpoint of the purchaser, he (or she) cansubmit both together the installment payment application and thesettlement service application, for example, by inputting or enteringthe data using a single form. Relating to this, common information forboth applications can be entered in a single inputting process. That is,the input operation for both applications can be facilitated andexpedited, while the amount of data, the required throughput, the dataflow or the like can be reduced. Additionally, among the information forwhich the data is entered collectively, the information required for theinstallment payment examination is extracted or reformed in the serverapparatus 50 and transmitted to the second apparatus 20, while theinformation required for the settlement service examination is extractedor reformed in the server apparatus 50 and transmitted to the thirdterminal apparatus 30. Moreover, the server apparatus 50 can acquire theexamination result indicating whether or not the selected payment planincluded in the payment plan information is applicable to the purchaserin view of the installment payment and the settlement service quicklyand securely via the communication network 1. Thereby, the selectedpayment plan can be firmed up or an alternative payment plan can beproposed, otherwise the sale can be prohibited.

Preferably in this embodiment, the price or amount of money to be paidduring the period of the installment payment wherein the payment is madein installments is for both the price of the product and the associatedservice. The price to be paid after the period of the installmentpayment is only for the associated service.

In this arrangement, as for the sense of economy of the purchaser, it ispossible to make the purchaser feel the reduction in the price throughthe payment in installments for the price of the product itself and theassociated service, for example, as the monthly running cost. Moreover,after the period of installment payment, the purchaser may feel a glowof satisfaction in an economical viewpoint, since the running cost isreduced, In practice, since the purchase price of the product imposesthe debt on the purchaser at the time of purchase, the seller managingthe server apparatus 50 can gain substantial economical benefit in thatthe cash flow is remarkably improved due to the sale of product.Furthermore, the price for the optional service can be added to theoriginal service price so that it is incorporated in the payment planfor the settlement service.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the outputting device 103 as the paymentplan candidates outputting device preferably outputs the payment planinformation including a plurality of payment plans in a formatindistinctive between the product price and the service price, as thepredetermined format, Thereby, the purchaser can select the paymentplan, taking account of the running cost for both together the productand the associated service, without special attention to the distinctionbetween the purchase price of the product and the price of theassociated service.

In this embodiment, the inputting device 104 is preferably arranged insuch a manner that the payment plan information, the personalinformation and the credit card information, covering the informationfor specifying the product and the service, as well as the informationfor the installment payment examination and the information for thesettlement examination can be entered in a single application form,avoiding the overlap entry among each information.

In this arrangement, it is very convenient for the purchaser that theapplication for both the installment payment and the settlement servicecan be accomplished through the input or entry operation with respect toonly a single application form. Moreover, avoiding the overlap entryamong each information allows the amount of the data inputted to bereduced, and thereby the data throughput, the data flow, the datamanagement load or the like to be reduced efficiently.

Nevertheless, the inputting device 104 may be arranged in such a mannerthat the payment plan information, the personal information and thecredit card information are entered with respect to two forms each forthe installment payment application and the settlement serviceapplication. In this case, if the one form is filled, the other form canbe outputted with the overlap entries already filled before its dataentry. In any case, such an arrangement that the entries overlappingbetween two application forms is avoided by the data entry with respectto either one form is sufficient to obtain the effect that the inputoperation can be facilitated and the data throughput or the datamanagement load can be reduced in certain degrees.

Various Embodiments

In this embodiment, the payment plan information supplying device 506may be arranged to propose one or more payment plans applicable to thepurchaser, according to the predetermined basis using the personalinformation inputted via the inputting device 104.

In this arrangement, the purchaser or others can select the preferableplan without the waste operation, and thereby submit further quickly andsimply the application.

Moreover, the payment plan information supplying device 506 may bearranged to propose a new payment plan, if there is no payment planapplicable to the purchaser among the payment plan information alreadysupplied by default, according to the predetermined basis using thepersonal information inputted via the inputting device 104.

In this arrangement, if there is any payment plan applicable to thepurchaser, according to the predetermined basis, using the personalinformation about the purchaser-to-be who submits the application underthe presence of the payment plan information proposed provisionally bydefault, the application can be further proceed. On the contrary, ifthere is no payment plan applicable to the purchaser-to-be, newlyproposing another payment plan assists the purchaser-to-be to be thepurchaser.

Generally, under a situation in that the result of examination isnegative, the increase in the amount of money to be paid in cash at thepurchase application or the amount of the first installments facilitatespassing through the examination. Therefore, for example, if the resultof either one of the examination is negative at the installment paymentexamining device 208 or the settlement service examining device 308, apayment plan to pay the price of the product itself and the service forfirst three years at the first payment in a lump and later pay a fixedamount of money continually as the service change for the service afterfourth year may be proposed.

Therefore, a plurality of payment plans proposed (e.g. by default inadvance) from the payment plan information supplying device 506preferably includes a payment plan to pay a certain part of the totalprice, such as the fixed or variable amount otherwise the amount of thepurchaser's selection, in a lump as the first installment.

In this arrangement, in a situation that the purchaser prefers to paymore money as the first installment, or the result of the examination isexpected to be rather negative, the efficient treatment can be performedfrom the beginning.

Moreover, the inputting device 104 is arranged to enter or input thepurchaser's preference about the payment plan information in apredetermined format. Therefore, the payment plan information supplyingdevice 506 may be arranged to propose one or more payment plansaccording to the purchaser's preference entered via the inputting device104, such as the total price, the initial payment, the monthly payment,the existence/absence of the optional service etc.

In this arrangement, the payment plan information in line with thepurchaser's preference or choice indicated by the preference informationis transmitted to the first terminal apparatus 10, and thereby thepurchaser can select the preferable payment plan comfortably, resultingin the further quick and secure application.

Still further, the payment plan information supplying device 506 may bearranged to propose the payment plan information with ranking reflectingat least one of (i) the adoption performance record in past of eachpayment plan, such as the number of applications, the number ofpurchases, the number of inquiries or the like and (ii) the researchresult about each payment plan, such as the popularity or the rankinginformation obtained by the survey at the store or online. Thereby, theoutputting device 103 may be arranged to propose a plurality of paymentplans in the order of the ranking, or to visually output a certainpayment plan with a notation “the most popular now!”.

In this arrangement, through the first terminal apparatus 10, thepurchaser can select the payment plan peacefully, taking account of thedifference in the popularity among the payment plans, resulting in thefurther quick and secure the application.

In this embodiment, the installment payment organization where thesecond terminal apparatus 20 is disposed may serve also as thesettlement service organization where the third terminal apparatus 30 isdisposed, and further the second terminal apparatus 20 may serve also asthe third terminal apparatus 30. For example, the installment paymentorganization and the settlement payment organization may be in a samecompany, while the second terminal apparatus 20 and the third terminalapparatus 30 may be constructed in a single common computer or differentmultiple computers in the same company. In this way, a unifieddepartment in the same company can perform both the installment paymentand the settlement service, and the common computer or the computersconnected to each other with an intranet can construct the installmentpayment organization and the settlement service organization.Additionally, holding the data such as the personal information commonlybetween the installment payment organization and the settlement serviceorganization is facilitated.

Thus, unifying two organizations allows transmitting or informing theinstallment payment schedule table or the invoice for the settlementservice together to the purchaser, as well as the central management forvarious payments.

According to the embodiment set forth above, the processing device 502for extracting and forming the information required for the installmentpayment examination or the settlement service examination as well as thecommunication device 501 for transmitting the information required forthe installment payment examination to the second terminal apparatus 20or transmitting the information required for the settlement serviceexamination to the third terminal apparatus 30 are disposed in theserver apparatus 50. However, at least a part of the informationextracting function or the information transmitting function in theprocessing device 502 and the communication device 501 may be performedat the control device 102 and the communication device 101 in the firstterminal apparatus 10.

The payment system according to the embodiment described referring toFIG. 1 is novel not only as a whole, but also in the server apparatus 50itself or the first terminal apparatus 10 itself. Further, as shown inFIG. 1, connecting a number of the same first terminal apparatuses 10 tothe server apparatus 50 contributes the increase in the profit from thepayment system according to the present embodiment.

Additionally, the payment system according to the embodiment set forthabove can be embodied relatively readily by running a computer programfor serving a computer as a server apparatus 50 according to theinvention. Concretely, a computer may be served as the server apparatus50, by running the computer program for serving the computer as theserver apparatus 50, after loading the program into the computer from arecording medium such as CD, DVD or the like, or downloading the programinto the computer via the communication network 1. More concretely, thecomputer may be served as various devices set forth above such as thecommunication device 501, the processing device 502, the database 505,the payment plan information supplying device 506, the confirming device507 and the storage device 508. Another computer may be served as thefirst terminal apparatus 10 by running the program, after loading theprogram into the computer from a recording medium such as CD, DVD or thelike, or downloading the program into the computer via the communicationnetwork 1. More concretely, the computer may be served as variousdevices set forth above such as the communication device 101, theprocessing device 102, the outputting device 103, the inputting device104 and the storage device 108. For example, most or part of thecomputer program to be used may be supplied from the server apparatus 50to the first terminal apparatus 10 provided with a browsing function.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, as discussedabove, the first terminal apparatus 10 is provided with the inputtingdevice 104, and at least one of the server apparatus 50 and the firstterminal apparatus 10 (in the embodiment, the server apparatus 50) isprovided with the processing device 502, the communication device 501and the confirming device 507. Alternatively, the inputting process isexecuted in the first terminal apparatus 10, and the extracting orreforming process, the communication process and the confirming processare executed in at least one of the server apparatus 50 and the firstterminal apparatus 10 (in the embodiment, the server apparatus 50).Therefore, the data processing for the payment or collection of the feeor charge can be performed efficiently as for the product with theservice involving the purchase price for each product and the price foreach service continually served through the product after the purchase.

The nature, utility, and further features of this embodiment will bemore clearly apparent from the following Examples.

EXAMPLES

Examples of the present invention will be now discussed, referring toFIG. 2 to FIG. 7. FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually showing theproduct flow and the charge collection route in the payment systemaccording to the present Example, wherein the flows of the product, theservice and the data are shown with thinner arrows, while the flows ofmoney are shown with thicker hollow arrows. FIG. 3 is a sequence chartaccording to the Example, showing the data transaction among thepurchaser or car shop, the seller, the loan company and the creditcompany. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing exemplary payment planinformation including a plurality of payment plans displayed on thedisplay device as the payment plan candidates outputting deviceaccording to the Example. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an exemplarypurchase application form displayed on the display device. FIG. 6 is aconceptual view showing the flow of the data entered through thepurchase application form and the change of the data. FIG. 7 is a planview showing an exemplary confirmed plan display displayed on thedisplay device as the confirmed plan outputting device.

The conceptual structure of the Example will now be discussed, referringto FIG. 2.

In the Example, the combination of (i) the communication navigationapparatus as one example of the product, and (ii) the delivery serviceof the map data capable of being displayed with the communicationnavigation apparatus and the provision service of the communication lineindispensable for the operation of the communication navigationapparatus, as one example of the service accompanying the product, areexhibited and dealt at the car shop 10S. Then, the combination of thecommunication navigation apparatus as a hardware and the delivery of themap data as a software and the provision of the communication line issold from the seller 50C directly to the purchaser, or via the car shop10S.

In this situation, the price for the product and its associated serviceis paid, by using the payment system according to the Example, asdiscussed 10 below.

Referring to FIG. 2, one first terminal apparatus 10 is disposed at thehouse and the like of the purchaser 10U, and other first terminalapparatus 10 is disposed at the car shop 10S (e.g. at the store front).The second terminal apparatus 20 is disposed at the—loan company 20C asone example of the installment payment organization. The third terminalapparatus 30 is disposed at the credit card company 30C as one exampleof the settlement service organization. The server apparatus 50 isdisposed at the seller 50C as one example of the seller, who sells thehardware of the communication navigation apparatus combined with theassociated software. Further, the payment system involves the hardwaremaker/supplier 60C, the map data maker/supplier 70C and the telecomcompany 80C.

Next, the flow of the product, the service and the data as well as thecash flow feasible according to the payment system of the Example underthe situation mentioned above will now be discussed sequentially,referring to FIG. 2.

First, as shown by an arrow Z1, the exhibition and the dealing of theproduct and the associated service are requested from the seller 50C tothe car shop 10S. Before or after this, otherwise simultaneously, thebrokerage fee for exhibiting and dealing merchandise is paid from theseller 50C to the car shop 10S, in a fixed fee or a commission.

In response to this, as shown by an arrow Z2, the car shop 10S exhibitsand deals the product and the associated service for the purchaser 10U.

If the purchaser 10U decides the purchase at the house, or the dealingat the car shop 10S is clinched, a purchase application with thepreferable plan is submitted through the first terminal apparatus 10, asshown by an arrow Z3. Concretely, as the embodiment discussed referringto FIG. 1, data is transmitted from the first terminal apparatus 10 tothe server apparatus 50.

In response to this, after the payment plan is firmed up through theexamination by the loan company 20C and the credit company 30C, thecommunication navigation apparatus as the product is shipped from thehardware maker/supplier 60C to the seller 50C, as shown by an arrow Z4.Along with this, as shown by an arrow Z5, the delivery right of the mapdata as the service is provided from the map data maker/supplier 70C tothe seller 50C, and as shown by an arrow Z6, the license to use thecommunication line as the service is provided from the telecom company80C to the seller 50C.

Next, as shown by an arrow Z7, the communication navigation apparatus isdelivered from the seller 50C to the purchaser 10U, and, as shown by anarrow Z8, the map data is delivered from the seller 50C to the purchaser10U, and as shown by an arrow Z9, the communication line is providedfrom the seller 50C to the purchaser 10U. The delivery of the map dataand the provision of the communication line are served continuallythereafter, for example, for several months or several years.

In response to the purchase in installments for the communicationnavigation apparatus, as shown by an arrow Y1, the total amount of pricefor the hardware part of the communication navigation apparatus is paidin a lump from the loan company 20C to the seller 50C. Before or afterthis, as shown by an arrow Y2, the code price for the hardware part ofthe communication navigation apparatus is paid from the seller 50C tothe hardware maker/supplier 60C.

Then, as shown by an arrow Y3, the first installment for the purchaseprice of the hardware part of the communication navigation apparatus ispaid from the purchaser 10U to the loan company 20C. Approximately atthe same time, otherwise before or after this, as shown by an arrow Y4,the price for the service made of the delivery of the map data and theprovision of the communication line is paid periodically, for example,monthly, from the purchaser 10U to the credit company 30C. This paymentis endless insofar as such service is continued to be supplied.

The amount obtained from subtracting the dealing charge from the pricepaid to the credit company 30C is then paid from the credit company 30Cto the seller 50C, as shown by an arrow Y5.

Then, as shown by an arrow Y6, the second and later installments for theprice of the hardware part of the communication navigation apparatus ispaid from the purchaser 10U to the loan company 20C, periodicallythrough a certain period, e.g. through three years, with thepredetermined frequency. Relating to this, an additional amount of moneymay be paid in the bonus season. In response to this, the price for thedelivery of the map data is paid from the seller 50 C to the map datamaker/supplier 70C, as shown by an arrow Y7, and the price for theprovision of the communication line is paid from the seller 50C to thetelecom company 80C, as shown by an arrow Y8.

As shown by an arrow Z2, from the car shop 10S to the purchaser 10U, theinstallation service of the communication navigation apparatus may beoffered in addition to the exhibition or dealing thereof. In this case,as shown by an arrow Y10, the price for the installation service is paiddirectly from the purchaser 10U to the car shop 10S.

Next, the data transaction or transmission via the communication networkto embody the payment system will now be discussed, referring to thesequence chart in FIG. 3. The sequence chart in FIG. 3 illustrates theactions of the purchaser 10U or the car shop 10S, the seller 50C, theloan company 20C and the credit company 30C as well as the inter-actionthereamong in chronological order. Each transverse line indicates theinter-action, and the vertical lines indicate the time elapse.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the purchaser 10U or the car shop 10S canuse the first terminal apparatus to select the preferable plan via theinputting device 104, among the plurality of payment plans indicated onthe outputting device 103 as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the serviceclerk or the purchaser can input the preferable payment plan, referringto the handbill or poster as shown in FIG. 4.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a purchase application form isdisplayed on the screen of the outputting device 103, and personalinformation such as a name, an address, a postal code, a telephonenumber, an e-mail address or an occupation is entered in a personalinformation section 401 of the form via the inputting device 104, theproduct information such as a product name or a reference number isentered in a product information section 402 via the inputting device104, the personal information such as a name of settlement bank, theaccount number or the name of the account is entered in an installmentpayment information section 404 via the inputting device 104, the creditcard information such as a credit card number is entered in the creditcard information section 405 via the inputting device 104 (step S11).

Referring again to FIG. 3, various kind of information entered as suchis transmitted via the communication network 1 to the server apparatus50 disposed at the seller 50C to be registered into the database 505 ona purchaser-by-purchaser basis. That is, at this stage, the purchaserregistration is performed provisionally (step S12).

Further, among the information registered in the database 505, theinformation for the settlement service examination is extracted orreformed, and the information for the installment payment examination isextracted or reformed.

Next, the examination is requested to the credit company 30C and theloan company 20C (step S13). Concretely, the information for thesettlement service examination including at least the credit card numberand the part of the personal information is transmitted with theinformation indicating the examination request from the server apparatus50 to the third terminal apparatus 30 disposed at the credit company30C. Before or after this, otherwise simultaneously, the information forthe installment payment examination including at least the payment planand the part of the personal information is transmitted with theinformation indicating the examination request from the server apparatus50 to the second terminal apparatus 20 disposed at the credit company20C.

Particularly in the Example, as shown in FIG. 6, the input data D1 forthe purchase application entered via the inputting device 104 at thefirst terminal apparatus in the step S11 is divided into the informationdata D2 for the installment payment examination and the information dataD3 for the settlement service examination through the extraction or thereformation in the processing device 502 at the server apparatus 50. Apart of the information data D2 for the installment payment examinationand a part of the information data D3 for the settlement serviceexamination are common in at least a part of the personal information,as conceptually shown with hatching in FIG. 6. Therefore, the amount ofthe data input, the data transmission, the data registration or the likewithin the period until the division in the processing device 502 can beremarkably reduced, in comparison with the case of the independentlyapplication each for the installment payment and the settlement service.Particularly, in spite of the high performance computer providing thefirst terminal apparatus 10, the data entry for the input data D1 forthe purchase application in the step S11 typically requires a greateffort especially for the purchaser not accustomed to the computer.Therefore, in a practical view point, it is very advantageous that thedata entry for the overlap portion between the installment paymentapplication information and the settlement service applicationinformation can be omitted, and the information data D2 for theinstallment payment application and the information data D3 for thesettlement service application are extracted or reformed automaticallyat the server apparatus 50, as the Example. It is noted that theprocessing device 502 shown in FIG. 6 may perform the format conversion,as discussed above.

Referring again to FIG. 3, in response to the examination request in thestep 813, inside of the third terminal apparatus 30 disposed at thecredit company 30C, the examination to decide the acceptance or refusalof the settlement service is executed by the settlement serviceexamining device 308, on the basis of the information transmitted fromthe server apparatus 50 (step S14). Before or after this, otherwisesimultaneously, inside of the second terminal apparatus 20 disposed atthe loan company 20C, the examination to decide the acceptance orrefusal of the installment payment is executed by the installmentpayment examining device 208, on the basis of the informationtransmitted from the server apparatus 50 (step S15).

Then, the examination result indicating the acceptance or refusal of theinstallment payment is transmitted from the second terminal apparatus 20disposed at the loan company 20C to the server apparatus 50 disposed atthe seller 50C (step S16). Before or after this, otherwisesimultaneously, the examination result indicating the acceptance orrefusal of the settlement service is transmitted from the third terminalapparatus 30 disposed at the credit company 30C to the server apparatus50 disposed at the seller 50C (step 517).

At the server apparatus 50 disposed at the seller 50C, the confirmingdevice 507 firms up the payment plan, based on these examination results(step S18).

Depending on the product attribute or the purchaser's circumstances, itmay take a relatively long time, e.g. for a few days or a few weeks, tocomplete the examination. Preferably in the Example, through thementioned system configuration constructed on the communication network1, a relatively short time period, e.g. for a few seconds or a fewminutes, is sufficient to complete the procedure from the application tothe firming up of the payment plan. However, the Example is applicableto the case involving the long time examination, providing thesubstantially effect.

Next, the server apparatus 50 disposed at the seller 50C transmits thefact that the payment plan is confirmed, to the purchaser 10U or thefirst terminal apparatus 10 disposed at the car shop 10S (step S19). Forexample, the confirmed plan as shown in FIG. 7 may be visually displayedor printed by the outputting device 103 in the first terminal apparatus10. The purchaser can ensure the final order in detail, viewing theoutput or print. At this stage, the data for the final confirmation maybe entered via the inputting device 104 and transmitted to the serverapparatus 50.

If the payment plan can not be confirmed in the step S18, other paymentplans may be proposed to the purchaser 10U or the first terminalapparatus 10 disposed at the car shop 10S, or a sales prohibition may beinformed to the same, as mentioned above.

Inside of the server apparatus 50 disposed at the seller 50C, if thepayment plan is confirmed in the step S18, the shipping order of theproduct is placed electronically, and then in response to the shippingorder, the product is shipped actually, for example, by mail or viacourier service (step S20). Thus, a series of data transaction iscompleted.

Later, the purchased product is delivered to the purchaser 10U or thecar shop 10S (step S21). Thereafter, the price or balance payment to theloan company 20C and the credit card company 30C is conducted, asdiscussed referring to FIG. 2.

The payment system according to the present invention is applicable notonly to the communication navigation apparatus, but also to anycombination of any product and any service involving the payment withrespect to the purchase price for the product and the price for theservice, insofar as the service continuously provided through theproduct is exist.

As discussed above, according to the present embodiments, the firstterminal apparatus 10 is provided with the inputting device 104, whilethe server apparatus 50 is provided with the processing device 502, thecommunication device 501 and the confirming device 507, and at the firstterminal apparatus 10, the inputting process is executed, while at theserver apparatus 50, the extracting process, the communication processand the confirming process are executed. Therefore, for example, withregard to the product and its associated service involving the purchaseprice for the product such as a communication apparatus and the pricefor the service continually provided through the product such as acommunication service, the data processing for the payment or thecollection of the debt can be carried out very efficiently.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-196068filed on Jul. 4, 2002 including the specification, claims, drawings andsummary is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. A server apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving informationvia a communication network among a first terminal apparatus with whicha purchaser inputs desirable one of a plurality of payment planinformations in a purchase application, a second terminal apparatus inan installment payment organization, and a third terminal apparatus in asettlement service organization, the server apparatus comprising: aprocessing device, wherein said processing device performs a step ofextracting both (i) information relating to an item or itemspredetermined in an installment payment application including at least apart of a personal information and a payment plan information and (ii)information relating to an item or items predetermined in a settlementservice application including at least a part of the personalinformation, the payment plan information and a credit card informationseparately from among the inputted informations in the first terminalapparatus; each inputted informations indicating a combination of both(iii-a) a payment plan portion according to which the purchaser pays apurchase price of a product, which the purchaser is to buy, ininstallments through the installment payment organization, and (iii-b) apayment plan portion according to which the purchaser settles a price ofa service continually provided to the purchaser through the product bymeans of a credit card issued by the settlement service organization andowned by the purchaser, and indicating (iv) a certain kind of thepersonal information about the purchaser and the credit card informationindicating at least a card number of the credit card; a firsttransmitting device, wherein said first transmitting device performs astep of transmitting the extracted information relating to the item oritems in the installment payment application to the second terminalapparatus via the communication network; a second transmitting device,wherein said second transmitting device performs a step of transmittingthe extracted information relating to the item or items in thesettlement service application to the third terminal apparatus via thecommunication network; a first receiving device, wherein said firstreceiving device performs a step of receiving installment paymentexamination result information indicating an acceptance or refusal of aninstallment payment transmitted via the communication network from thesecond terminal apparatus in response to the transmitted informationrelating to the item or items in the installment payment application;second receiving device, wherein said second receiving device performs astep of receiving settlement service examination result informationindicating an acceptance or refusal of a settlement service transmittedvia the communication network from the third terminal apparatus inresponse to the transmitted information relating to the item or items inthe settlement service application; and a confirming device, whereinsaid confirming device performs a step of confirming an acceptance orrefusal of a payment plan indicated by the payment plan informationinput in the first terminal apparatus, on the basis of the installmentpayment examination result information received by said first receivingdevice, and the settlement service examination result informationreceived by said second receiving device.
 2. A payment processing methodin a server apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving informationvia a communication network among a first terminal apparatus with whicha purchaser inputs a desirable one of a plurality of payment planinformations in a purchase application, a second terminal apparatus inan installment payment organization, and a third terminal apparatus in asettlement service organization, the payment processing methodcomprising: a step of extracting both (i) information relating to anitem or items predetermined in an installment payment applicationincluding at least a part of a personal information and a payment planinformation and (ii) information relating to an item or itemspredetermined in a settlement service application including at least apart of the personal information, the payment plan information andcredit card information separately from among the inputted informationsin the first terminal apparatus, each inputted informations indicating acombination of both (iii-a) a payment plan according to which thepurchaser pays a purchase price of a product, which the purchaser is tobuy, in installments through the installment payment organization, and(iii-b) a payment plan portion according to which the purchaser settlesa price of a service continually provided to the purchaser through theproduct by means of a credit card issued by the settlement serviceorganization and owned by the purchaser, and indicating (iv) a certainkind of personal information about the purchaser and the credit cardinformation indicating at least a card number of the credit card, theinputting device being had by the first terminal apparatus for apurchase application; a first transmitting step of transmitting theextracted information relating to the item or items in the installmentpayment application to the second terminal apparatus for an installmentpayment organization, via the communication network; a secondtransmitting step of transmitting the extracted information relating tothe item or items for the settlement service application to the thirdterminal apparatus in the settlement service organization, via thecommunication network; a first receiving step of receiving installmentpayment examination result information indicating an acceptance orrefusal of an installment payment transmitted via the communicationnetwork from the second terminal apparatus in response to thetransmitted information relating to the item or items in the installmentpayment application; a second receiving step of receiving settlementservice examination result information indicating an acceptance orrefusal of a settlement service transmitted via the communicationnetwork from the third terminal apparatus in response to the transmittedinformation relating to the item or items in the settlement serviceapplication; and a step of confirming an acceptance or refusal of apayment plan indicated by the payment plan information inputted in thefirst terminal apparatus, on the basis of the installment paymentexamination result information received in the first receiving step, andthe settlement service examination result information received in thesecond receiving step.
 3. A computer program product in acomputer-readable medium for tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by a computer to make the computer function as aserver apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving information via acommunication network among a first terminal apparatus with which apurchaser inputs a desirable one of a plurality of payment planinformations in a purchase application, a second terminal apparatus inan installment payment organization, and a third terminal apparatus in asettlement service organization, these components being provided for apayment system, wherein, the server apparatus comprises: a processingdevice, wherein said processing device performs a step of extractingboth (i) information relating to an item or items predetermined in aninstallment payment application including at least a part of a personalinformation and a payment plan information and (ii) information relatingto an item or items predetermined in a settlement service applicationincluding at least a part of the personal information, the payment planinformation and a credit card information separately from among theinputted informations in the first terminal apparatus, each inputtedinformations indicating a combination of both (iii-a) a payment planportion according to which the purchaser pays a purchase price of aproduct, which the purchaser is to buy, in installments through theinstallment payment organization, and (iii-b) a payment plan portionaccording to which the purchaser settles a price of a servicecontinually provided to the purchaser through the product by means of acredit card issued by the settlement service organization and owned bythe purchaser, and indicating (iv) a certain kind of the personalinformation about the purchaser and the credit card informationindicating at least a card number of the credit card; a firsttransmitting device wherein said first transmitting device performs astep of transmitting the extracted information relating to the item oritems in the installment payment application to the second terminalapparatus via the communication network; a second transmitting device,wherein said second transmitting device performs a step of transmittingthe extracted information relating to the item or items in thesettlement service application to the third terminal apparatus via thecommunication network; a first receiving device, wherein said firstreceiving device performs a step of receiving installment paymentexamination result information indicating an acceptance or refusal of aninstallment payment transmitted via the communication network from thesecond terminal apparatus in response to the transmitted informationrelating to the item or items in the installment payment application; asecond receiving device, wherein said second receiving device performs astep of receiving settlement service examination result informationindicating an acceptance or refusal of a settlement service transmittedvia the communication network from the third terminal apparatus inresponse to the transmitted information relating to the item or items inthe settlement service application; and a confirming device, whereinsaid confirming device performs a step of confirming an acceptance orrefusal of a payment plan indicated by the payment plan informationinputted in the first terminal apparatus, on the basis of theinstallment payment examination result information received by saidfirst receiving device, and the settlement service examination resultinformation received by said second receiving device.